Yachts Run Aground After Squall in The Bahamas

Multiple yachts ran aground in the Exuma Islands of the Bahamas after a squall hit, according to Capt. Pascal Gademer and Capt. Greg Warner. 

Capt. Pascal Gademer of M/Y La Balsita shared pictures and video of multiple yachts run aground after a squall hit the Exuma Islands around 11:20 p.m. on Thursday, June 27. The squall hit most of the Exuma Islands on Thursday night, all the way from Highbourne Cay to Farmer’s Cay. Although winds had been light all evening, the squall switched the winds west, increasing it from under 10 knots to 35 to 38 knots, according to Gademer.

Anchored at Big Major Cay, La Balsita swung 180 degrees, triggering Gademer to start main engines just in case. A number of boats quickly began dragging, as captured in Galdemer’s HelmCam video that can be seen here. Gademer tracked a 60-foot Sea Ray about a quarter of a mile upwind of La Balista on his AIS, with the vessel eventually ending up on the beach.

Winds from the west continued to increase in speed, eventually reaching close to 40 knots for two hours and resulting in three-foot waves. The wind eventually came down to 10 to 12 knots around 2 a.m., with the chop subsiding around 3:30 a.m.

“Making things worst is the fact that the Bahamas weather radar on the Bahamas Met website has been down for months,” Gademer wrote.

While Gademer reported a large BRIG RIB and two PWCs in addition to the 60-foot Sea Ray ending up on the beach at Big Major Cay, he was alerted that a 40-foot catamaran ended up on the rocks at Highbourne Cay and an 82-foot Azimut ran hard aground at Little Farmer’s Cay. Capt. Greg Wagner was on scene of the grounded Azimut, and submitted pictures of it to Triton. Although an unfortunate experience, Gademer wants all captains and crew to learn the following lessons to avoid situations like these in the future.

– Be aware of possible weather in summer and have the boat ready including securing jet skis, dinghies, and toys. Same with cushions and awnings.

– Use your onboard radar to track incoming weather.

– Have the engines ready to prevent dragging or [to] dodge others.

Images by Capt. Pascal Gademer and Capt. Greg Wagner.